Keeping civil society domestic (or domesticated)
Civil society is a vital part of liberal regimes. But what if major parts of that civil society are funded by foreigners? What if China was a major source of funding for the U.S. League of Women Voters? Or what if the Russians funded the UK's Trades Union Council (TUC)?Those are the kinds of questions some powerful leaders are asking in Russia.
Russia Demands U.S. End Support of Democracy Groups
Russia has ordered the United States to end its financial support for a wide range of pro-democracy [like GOLOS], public health and other civil society programs here, in an aggressive step by the Kremlin to halt what it views as American meddling in its internal affairs.
The Kremlin’s provocative decision to end two decades of work in post-Soviet Russia by the United States Agency for International Development…
GOLOS
The Kremlin has taken a number of actions in recent months to bring pressure on nongovernmental groups and clamp down on political dissent, including a new law requiring any organization receiving aid from abroad to register with the justice manager as “acting as a foreign agent.”…
Russia is not alone in its resentment of United States-led democracy building efforts. Those have become a sore point for a number of countries in recent years, including allies like Egypt and Pakistan, which have objected to outside groups telling them how to run their affairs. The aid agency’s cold war history of providing a front for American intelligence agencies is still fresh in the memories of foreign officials, many of whom have never fully dropped their suspicions…
Mr. Putin, facing large-scale dissent at home for the first time, has said unrest is being stoked by the State Department, working covertly through nonprofit organizations…
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Labels: civil society, politics, Russia
posted by Ken Wedding @ 6:00 AM
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